With the Bugster infection spreading rapidly, the authorities can't hide the disease from the public anymore. After Kiriya's death, Kuroto starts targeting the other Kamen Riders for their Gashats, but Parado approaches Emu, offering him a blank double Gashat which will allows him to attain a new level of power…
Plot[]
Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Kyotaro Hinata, announces via press conference the existence of the Bugster virus to the Japanese public, describing its workings and the Kamen Riders who are there to help cure those infected; in a crowd, Nico Saiba listens. In their hideout, Parado and Kuroto plan on retrieving the Gashats from the Riders. After the press conference, Asuna and Director Kagami discuss the situation with Hinata, how Graphite's rampage couldn't be kept secret. Asuna excitedly changes from business attire to a pink nurse outfit, but Kagami and Hinata continue their discussion without notice, mentioning that Emu has now moved from a pediatric to a surgical internship.
At the Seito University Hospital, Emu practices a surgical procedure, but keeps thinking about Kiriya's death, a supervising Hiiro saying he took too long. Hiiro reiterates that a doctor can't let emotions interfere with treating patients. However, the two are alerted to a new CR patient: Kazuki Shirakawa, a famous surgeon from the Keisou University Hospital. Kazuki has guessed that he has the "game illness", but says there's no point in operating on him. As Hiiro prepares to operate anyway, his infection breaks out into the Aranbura Bugster, now leveled-up to Level 5. Hiiro and Emu transform into Brave and Ex-Aid, Director Kagami again indicating through the upper window to move the fight elsewhere, Brave Stage Selecting them to a quarry. The Riders try to fight Aranbura in Level 2, but he now has a new spell that lets him freeze them in place, and on top of that, Genm Zombie Gamer Level X arrives, saying the Rider "test players" aren't needed and he will take back their Gashats, summoning the Gashacon Sparrow. Genm using the dead Kiriya's weapon enrages Ex-Aid into taking Hunter Action Gamer Level 5 Full Dragon, attacking Genm with a massive explosion; however, Genm recovers in a cloud of purple smoke, and Ex-Aid realizes that Genm's Rider Gauge is stuck at zero—Genm announces he has surpassed death and all attacks are useless. Ex-Aid keeps attacking Genm, ignoring Brave's fight with the Bugster. Genm triggers Critical Dead, sending a horde of shadowy zombie figures to grab Ex-Aid, but Brave tackles him out of the way just as the zombies explode, Hiiro undoing both of their transformations to remove the Game Area.
At Taiga's unregistered clinic, Nico Saiba shows up again and pretends to have the game illness. Back at CR, Hiiro confiscates all 5 of Emu's Gashats for his reckless behavior. Taiga confirms Nico doesn't have the game illness, but Nico points out that he cared enough to check, again telling him to go after Genius Gamer M. At their hideout, Kuroto says he will return to Genm Corp. after he completes Kamen Rider Chronicle, a game which soon people "won't be able to live without". He also says that a new blank double Gashat for Parado needs to be inserted into a Bugster to get the data to finish it, and humans using it would get a massive Bugster virus infection, dying instantly.
The patient Kazuki explains why operating on him is pointless: in addition to the Bugster infection, he has inoperable pancreatic cancer, and would die anyway even if cured of the Bugster. Emu sits outside, remembering what Hiiro and Kazuki said, questioning himself as a doctor, before Parado arrives; Emu recognizes the Genm impersonator from before. Parado observes how human death makes trying to save them an excessive challenge, contrasting it to games where one can respawn indefinitely. Meanwhile, Aranbura appears and challenges Hiiro at a café. Emu maintains that he doesn't want to let anyone die. Brave Beat Quest Gamer Level 3 fights Aranbura as Kuroto arrives, but Taiga confronts him, realizing that Kiriya was killed for discovering something about Ex-Aid, and the two transforming. Interested by Emu's attitude, Parado gives him the blank double Gahsat to defeat Genm with before vanishing.
Snipe Combat Shooting Gamer Level 3 faces Genm Zombie Gamer Level X with little success before Aranbura freezes and hits both Riders with a fire attack, Genm knocking them out of their transformations. Genm prepares to use the Gashacon Sparrow to attack them while defenseless, but Emu arrives, Genm noticing the blank double Gashat. Emu uses the Gashat, but a massive purple cloud erupts from him as he is filled with the Bugster infection, Genm guessing Parado's plan in giving Emu the Gashat. However, Emu's resolve makes the cloud pull back into him, his eyes glowing red as it erupts again, then both his eyes and the cloud changing to orange on the right and blue on the left, microscopic Bugster Viruses changing his DNA; the orange and blue cloud condense into the Gashat as it ejects, Emu catching it as it completes itself into the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat, surprising Genm and intriguing Parado. He uses the new Gashat, one of the two blank profile images on the Selection Menu activating and transforming him into Ex-Aid Double Action Gamer Level X, a Level 1-looking form. He attacks Genm, fighting on his level and knocking him down; Genm is pulled back to his feet by purple smoke. Ex-Aid then triggers a Level Up, and everyone stares in shock at the result: Ex-Aid has become Double Action Gamer Level XX, not only taking a Level 2-like form, but also splitting into two people, one orange and one teal. The two Ex-Aids notice and look at each other in confusion.
When Hiiro and Emu transform to fight Aranbura the first time, when they trigger their Gashats, the game title screens don't appear behind them, though the words "–Game Start–" do appear in front of them.
The T-shirt that Emu is wearing throughout this episode resembles games such as Space Invaders, Arkanoid and Breakout. He keeps using shirts with similar motifs up until episode 21 and eventually reuses shirts with the same designs after that.
Genm Zombie Gamer Level X facing off against Snipe is a reference to how in zombie games, players need guns to kill the Zombies. It is also a reference to how Zombie Games tend to coincide with the FPS genre of games or be a sub-genre of them in some cases.
When Mighty Brothers XX is activated in the Gamer Driver for the first time, one of the "?" icons becomes Double Action Gamer Level X. This is a reference to character unlocks given after beating a game or meeting certain criteria in the game, such as fighting games.
Despite Kiriya's death last episode, he is still shown in the opening credits alongside the other Riders in the lineup where they become Level 3, perhaps because it would have been too much effort to remake the scene without him.
This is the first episode of Ex-Aid whose title doesn't end with a punctuation mark like "!" or "?".
This is the first episode of Kamen Rider since during episode 45 of Drive to feature an insert theme with lyrics that isn't the season's title theme, as Ghost had no designated insert themes.
It is also the first episode to feature a song other than the season's title theme since Learn! All the Ways!, which included Zenryoku Start Line as an in-universe song, but not a true insert theme.
This is the first time Brave does a Stage Select in Quest Gamer Level 1.
This is the first time Emu transforms directly into Ex-Aid as a form other than Action Gamer Level 1; in this case, Double Action Gamer Level X.
This is the first time Ex-Aid was able to fully control Hunter Action Gamer Level 5 Full Dragon without ill effect.
In Kuroto's room, audiences can see five TV stations; four are broadcasting the Ministry of Health's announcement of the existence of the Bugsters and Kamen Riders, but the upper-right screen is playing a documentary of the ocean. This scene might be a in-joke reference to TV Tokyo since its channels always play irrelevant programs while other stations are broadcasting the headline news.
Final appearance of Ex-Aid Hunter Action Gamer Level 5 (Full Dragon) and Snipe Combat Shooting Gamer Level 3.
This article is about an episode in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.
episode 44, Ep. 44: Monarch of the Humans
